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Alvie Eats Soup – Ross Collins

“Alvie Eats Soup” is a whimsical tale about a boy who will only eat soup. It’s his favorite thing in the world! In fact, he’s so obsessed with the stuff, his first word was “mulligatawny.” He cried whenever someone tried to give him a cookie or a banana; he just wouldn’t have any of it. As he grew older, his tastes didn’t change at all, to the great discouragement of his parents. His little sister Delilah would eat anything. Why couldn’t he be more like Delilah, his parents wanted to know?

And to top it off, his grandmother was a world famous chef and would send the family huge boxes of cake and pie. Everyone, except Alvie, ate it and said it was wonderful, writing effusive thank-you notes. Alvie had to fake his so he wouldn’t hurt his grandmother’s feelings.

All of the children at school wanted to swap lunches, but Alvie wouldn’t participate. He was happy with his soup, and that was all he wanted. And at night, only listening to his mother read a cookbook would put him to sleep. (Poor, long-suffering mother!)

The soup factory had to make a delivery once a week to keep him stocked up (sorry, I just couldn’t help myself) His parents were worried. Would he grow properly? Was he getting enough nutrition? But then, things got even worse! They got a letter from Grandmother, saying she was coming for a visit! She would want to cook. How would they explain the strange eating habits of their son?

Alvie’s parents solve the problem by taking her out to dinner instead, where we discover that Grandmother has a strange eating preference of her own.

This delightful storybook will bring a smile to parents’ faces as they read to their own picky eaters.

(This book was published in 2002 by Scholastic Press and was illustrated by the author.)